The present invention relates to a running board construction for mounting to a vehicle and, more particularly, to an improved fastening construction for mounting the running board.
Running boards have been widely used over a number of years for attaching to the cab of a vehicle to facilitate ingress and egress from the cab by the driver and passengers. Likewise, a wide variety of mounting assemblies and fastening means have been employed for the mounting of these running boards. One such fastening assembly has included a pair of elongate channels which were formed integrally with the underside of the deck of the running board and into which were inserted fastening bolts which could be slidably adjusted along the length of each of the channels to align with one or more frame mounting brackets to attach the brackets to the running board deck. In turn, the brackets were attached to the frame of the vehicle such that the running board was firmly mounted to the vehicle frame.
Although such prior constructions, including the aforementioned double channel construction, were generally satisfactory, they did suffer several disadvantages. One disadvantage was that the presence of the plural channels increased the weight of the running board construction and required the use of additional material resulting in an increase in the cost of the running board, particularly where the running board is formed of relatively expensive materials, such as aluminum. The plural channels also necessitated the use of multiple fasteners which required additional parts and assembly steps. Moreover, the spacing of the channels was such that the center of the running board deck which usually experiences most of the traffic was not directly supported.
The running board construction of the present invention solves these aforementioned disadvantages and also enjoys several additional advantages not previously realized by the prior art constructions. In the first instance, a running board construction incorporating the principles of the present invention utilizes only a single fastener channel on the underside of the running board deck. Thus, the weight of the deck is reduced, less material is needed, and fewer fastener bolts are required reducing the number of parts and steps needed to mount the running board construction to the vehicle. In a running board construction incorporating the principles of the present invention, support and strengthening of the running board deck is substantially improved over the prior constructions, and a bowed, springing effect of the mounting bracket is realized which also substantially improves the rigidity and strength of the mounting of the running board. Another advantage of a running board construction incorporating the principles of the present invention is that a portion of the structure for fastening the bracket to the running board may also serve the dual function of facilitating fastening of the ends of the running board deck to covering elements.
In one principal aspect of the present invention, a running board for mounting on a vehicle comprises an elongate deck and mounting means for substantially horizontally mounting the deck to the vehicle. The mounting means includes at least one elongate bracket means for extending beneath and substantially transverse to the deck and the bracket means is also attachable to the frame of the vehicle. Fastener means fastens the elongate bracket means to the underside of the deck such that when the fastener means is fastened to the deck, the elongate bracket means is bowed by the fastener means over at least a portion of its length beneath the deck.
In another principal aspect of the present invention, the aforementioned fastener means includes a channel formed integrally with the underside of the deck and extending longitudinally of the deck. The channel has inwardly turned lips extending towards each other and bolt means, which are non-rotatable but are freely slidable in the channel, overlie the bracket means and are operable, when tightened, to attach the bracket means to the channel. A pair of flanges are spaced to either side of the channel and also extend longitudinally of the deck. The flanges extend to an elevation lower than the channel and into contact with the bracket means such that when the bolt means is tightened, a portion of the bracket means is bowed against the flanges and the channel.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.